Lost & Found

A little David Spade goes a long way, and to its detriment "Lost & Found" has a whole lot of David Spade.

The co-star of TV's "Just Shoot Me" can have his moments when he's not the center of the action. His usual shtick — mean-spirited insult humor — gets old in a hurry, and that's what much of this derivative, even disgusting comedy is built around.

Worse, the movie can't decide whether it wants to go for cloying, cutesy romance or for gross-out humor lifted straight out of "There's Something About Mary." And the melding of these two disparate comedy styles certainly doesn't work.

Nor for that matter, does the romantic pairing of Spade with Sophie Marceau ("Braveheart"), an aloof French actress who has no chemistry with him whatsoever. In fact, possibly their's could be least convincing pairing of an American and French actor since "Green Card" tried to put Andie MacDowell together with Gerard Depardieu.

Spade stars as Dylan Ramsey, a Los Angeles restaurateur with everything a young single could want — except for love, that is. Recently dumped by his stripper girlfriend, he's feeling blue . . . until her meets his new neighbor, Lila Dubois (Marceau).

Dylan is instantly smitten with the beautiful cellist, but he can't even get her attention. What's worse, her smarmy ex-boyfriend, Rene (Patrick Bruel), has followed her to California in hopes of rekindling their relationship.

So this desperate, would-be suitor kidnaps Lila's pet, a cairn terrier named Jack, hoping that the loss will bring them closer. Unfortunately, the dog provides one headache after another — as does Wally (Artie Lange), the restaurant's delivery boy and Dylan's inadvertant new roommate.

The latter role could have been written for Spade's late friend Chris Farley, who frankly, would have been much funnier. In fact, he would have been better in Spade's role as well.

Admittedly, Spade does get off a couple of good quips. But his character doesn't come off as being particularly sympathetic or likable. Of course, he really has no one else to blame for those character deficiencies, since he co-wrote the script with one of his buddies, J.B. Cook.

Also, Marceau seems to be sleepwalking through her performances, as witnessed by her stiff line recitations. Consequently, director Jeff Pollack ("Booty Call") can't create any sparks between his two leads.

"Lost & Found" is rated PG-13 for vulgar flatulence and animal excrement gags, as well as some use of crude sexual slang, profanity, male rear and female partial nudity, as well as some slapstick style violence.